LeBron James Makes Honest NSFW Admission About NFL Dominating NBA on Christmas Day

LeBron James was a guest on this week's New Heights episode with Jason and Travis Kelce.
LeBron James was a guest on this week's New Heights episode with Jason and Travis Kelce. / @NewHeights

NBA legend LeBron James finally made his debut appearance on the New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce this week and the episode did not disappoint, as they hit on a number of great topics.

One of the funniest moments came when Jason Kelce asked James a simple question: Who owns Christmas? That stemmed, of course, from when James said after the Lakers' Christmas Day win over the Warriors last month: “I love the NFL, but Christmas is our day.”

The NFL had three games on Christmas Day this season, including Travis Kelce's Chiefs beating the Steelers on the road.

James had a very honest answer for the Kelce brothers:

"I saw the f------ numbers after the fact—you guys kicked our ass, OK?" James said to the delight of the Kelces. "From a viewership standpoint you all kicked our ass. The games weren’t all as great as they should have been but when you have f------ Beyonce out there…"

Here's that funny moment from the podcast;

The NFL did easily win the ratings war on Christmas, but the NBA put up good numbers, too. Here's more on that from Front Office Sports:

The NBA, however, did post positive viewership numbers on Christmas with an average of 5.32 million viewers, up 87% from last year, which cut its overall season viewership decline to 4% from 18%. The Lakers-Warriors clash was the league’s most-watched of the year, with an average of 7.76 million viewers.

Unsurprisingly, the NBA’s ratings paled in comparison to the over 26 million viewers the NFL’s two games drew on Netflix. The NBA fared better when comparing social media numbers—but the NFL also received a boost from the halftime performance of Beyoncé during the Ravens-Texans game.

So yes, football is king. Even King James knows it.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.